Syria’s foreign minister signaled on Saturday a ceasefire would be
difficult or impossible before the borders with Turkey and Jordan were
sealed, and before a list of terrorist groups operating in Syria is
agreed.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, speaking in a televised news
conference, said he was citing his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov,
who had said “a ceasefire would not be possible before the borders with
Turkey and Jordan are controlled, and before agreement on lists of
terrorist organizations, it is difficult to achieve that.”

Rebel groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad have received supplies via both Turkey and Jordan.
Moualem
also said any ground incursion without state approval would be
considered an act of aggression and aggressors will go home in coffins.

The
foreign minister also said that the Syrian government went to talks
without preconditions and will not implement any preconditions.

His
comments capped a week that saw the collapse of U.N.-led efforts to
launch indirect peace talks between the Syrian government and an
opposition delegation in Geneva.

The talks broke down in large
part because of Syrian government offensives, including on the outskirts
of Aleppo, once the country’s largest city. The offensive, aimed at
encircling rebel strongholds in Aleppo, was backed by intense Russian
airstrikes and sent thousands of area residents fleeing toward a closed
Turkish border.

The foreign minister said the government advances
signaled that the five-year-old Syria war is nearing its end. “I can
say, from the achievements for our armed forces ... that we are now on
track to end the conflict,” he said. “Like it or not, our battlefield
achievements indicate that we are headed toward the end of the crisis.”

Opposition
representatives have said they cannot be expected to negotiate in
Geneva at a time when the Syrian government and its allies, including
Russia, are escalating attacks on rebel strongholds.

About Priyankar Calicut

Reporting for publications like Foreign Policy, TIME, World Affairs Journal, and Political Science Monitor, Sotloff called himself on Twitter a "stand-up philosopher from E.S" and was a big E.S Heat fan.